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received Self assessment form for 2008/09 today

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Hi,

Today I got self assessment form for the year 08/09 by post, it does not say anything just the form which says i should submit 31 Oct 2009, as the letter does not say anything i am totally confused on what i am supposed to do? any help please.

I had changed my job in Oct 2008.

Thanks

Comments

  • jimmo
    jimmo Posts: 2,287 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Looking at the on-line version of the 2008/09 Return I see you are right. It does say the deadline is 31 October 2009.

    In you circumstances, the law actually says you have 3 months from the date of issue and you can see that on the 2010 Return.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/2010/sa100.pdf

    Why HMRC have chosen to send you a 2008/09 Return now is another question. In theory they have good reason for doing so but I am afraid the cold fact is that they have issued a Return and you have a legal requirement to complete it. If you fail to do so, the red tape machine will go into overtime.

    I am afraid you will have to do it but do it carefully.

    No-one on a forum will be able to tell you why HMRC have chosen to issue a 2009 Return now but it is, most definitely out of the ordinary.
  • thanks Jimmo,
    after a sleepless night, I opened my document box and got my P45 & p60 for the year and after doing the calculation as in assessment form looks like I underpaid 3335 £ , :eek: hope I did calculate correctly, now will have to dig deep into my house deposit :(

    do I have any other option to pay rather than all together, this is the first experience with the taxman, as I started working in this country only from 2007, now I need to check all my p60, to check if I have anymore left to pay..
  • chrismac1
    chrismac1 Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    I think you should post up the details on here to make sure you've got your calculations correct. Also, depending on the reasons for the underpayment there may be ways not to have to pay back tax after all this time.

    In passing, it's worth adding that I reckon 20% of these are just plain blunders, though apparently not in your case. For example, one client who had a letter like yours I could not for the life of me understand why. On calling HMRC it becaome apparent they had him totally confused with a totally different taxpayer in a different part of the country who just happened to have the same (quite unusual) name.
    Hideous Muddles from Right Charlies
  • bangersnmash
    bangersnmash Posts: 9,719 Forumite
    edited 24 December 2012 at 4:34AM
    Would that perhaps mean that maybe it's been accidentally stuck in a post office sorting office, or somewhere, for the last three years or so and some postie, or someone, found it and shoved it back into transit again.

    In which case perhaps it's been completely forgotten.

    If so then there are some obvious implications to consider regarding what timescale it might be appropriate to action it over, all these years later.

    So possibly it might be worth considering whether to sit on it and wait to see if a reminder turns up in a few weeks or months.

    Or years...or decades...er...
  • System
    System Posts: 178,344 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 24 December 2012 at 9:32AM
    HMRC have possibly put you into self-assessment for 08/09 because they have not been able to get you to repay the 08/09 underpayment.
    Before this return was issued they would have sent out a PAYE P800 calculation advising you of the underpayment and possibly a P254 voluntary payment slip to enable you to repay the sum due. If you didn't receive the P800 you might consider asking HMRC when they sent it out and to what address. You still have to complete the tax return though.
    Putting you into self-assessment gives them more powers to pursue recovery of an underpayment dating back to 2008/09.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • jimmo
    jimmo Posts: 2,287 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 December 2012 at 1:00PM
    I would think that, certainly on this forum, the most common error that both HMRC and their punters make is double counting employment income from 2 jobs in the same tax year.
  • gt94sss2
    gt94sss2 Posts: 6,070 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    saferider wrote: »
    the form has my address wrong, house number is correct (the one i stayed in 2008) but a wrong street. so probably as "bangersnmash" said the letter was lost in post for all the years.

    The date the tax return was issued on is usually near the top left hand corner of the 1st page of your tax return - near your tax/employer reference details (above the box which has the HMRC office address).

    As others have said, you have 3 months to return the tax return back.

    I would be very suprised if it had been lost in the post for years - HMRC would have chased it. Instead, I suspect that for whatever reason, they have now decided to send you a tax return (perhaps to do with their new computer system running checks on old records)

    Regards
    Sunil
  • Murdina
    Murdina Posts: 434 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    HMRC are currently issueing tax returns for 08/09 to those who, as indicated above, have underpaid PAYE for that year and not responded (for whatever reason) to post about that underpayment.

    This is quite a conscious move and most definitely not a case of "lost in the post".

    Unfortunately once you are in SA you will probably end up paying more than if you had made a voluntary payment when asked as there will be interest and possibly surcharges.

    Be very careful about filling it in correctly. HMRC will not correct errors for you. Do not assume that because they already have your PAYE income that you do not have to put that in or that if you put it in the wrong place they will correct it for you.
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